Thank you to everyone who participated in our World Rivers Day invasive plant removal!
Andrea, Andrew, Angela, Darlene, Gael, Gayle, Giovanni, Glen, Gustavo & Gustavo, Heather, John, Joshua, Kelley, Ken, Lena, Lia, Lisa, Lorah, Ngan, Philmo, Raisa, Fern, Sonia, Susan, Suzie, Sydney, Vesna, Isabella, Jim, Brandon, Shanti, Charlette, Matisse, Pam, Abraham, Quentin, Martin, Henry, Ellis, Penny, Jack, Kaela, & Audrey!
We gathered to celebrate World Rivers Day by building community and removing invasive plants along this urban creek!
Read more about our day below!
Impacts
- 47 community members were engaged
- 12 participants visited Beecher Creek for the first time
- 7 participants removed invasive plants for the first time
- 12 participants visited Beecher Creek for the first time
- 143 hours were contributed towards restoring local habitat
- 16 cubic metres (100 bathtubs!) of invasive English Holly, English Ivy, and Himalayan Blackberry was removed
- 180 square metres of habitat was revitalized!
- Community members joined us from across the Lower Mainland including from Burnaby itself, Coquitlam, Surrey, Port Coquitlam, Vancouver, and Port Moody!
- Our activities are designed to foster a sense of community that extends beyond municipal borders. By engaging community members from across the region, we are reminded that we are part of a larger, interconnected community and have a shared responsibility of creating a cleaner, healthier environment regardless of where we call home
Highlights
- This was the second of two World Rivers Day activities we partnered with the City of Burnaby’s Planning Department for this year!
- We worked with the amazing Beecher Creek Streamkeepers, who will be taking advantage of the space we cleared to plant many native trees & shrubs here later this Fall!
- Special thank you to Kate, Emma, Ben, & Jim for all their work to help choose this site and organize this activity!
- Community members were able to see years of hard work by the Streamkeepers in the first part of the trail where they estimate more than 3,000 native plants have been planted over the years!
- Our efforts focused on removing English Ivy, English Holly, and Himalayan Blackberry.
- Several people who attended today connected with the Beecher Creek Streamkeepers and are likely to continue joining this group and supporting its work along the creek!
- A thanks to Gustavo & Sonia who joined with several local Scouts to learn about invasive plants and make a great impact!
- All ages, backgrounds, abilities & experience levels came out including families, students, working professionals, retirees, first timers, & returning LMGTers!
- One of our volunteers, Lisa, found and removed this huge Ivy root! This root normally climbs up the side of of trees adding weight and leaving them susceptible to wind damage.
- We enjoyed some tasty snacks during our break including brownies, fresh carrots with spinach dip, churro chickpea puffs, caramel & cheddar kettle corn, and more!
- Shoutout to Andrew, Glen, & Gustavo, our ‘Limb Trim Team’ for cutting up many of the Holly trees we removed to fit them all in the bins!
- Another shoutout to Glen & Philmo who tackled removing the biggest Holly root of the day!
- Special thank you to Andrew who stayed to the very end helping to pack everything up and look for any tools left behind!
- A thank you to everyone, as you all pitched in to bring the tools & supplies back to the trailhead at the end of the activity!
What Community Members Said
Video of Vesna, talking about having an amazing & rewarding day removing invasive plants, helping community, and having fun!
Video of Gayle, talking about learning lots about Blackberry & Holly and teaching the kids the importance of streamkeeping!
Community Investment Partner
THANK YOU to the City of Burnaby’s Planning Department for being a Community Investment Partner and providing the financial support and direction to make this activity, part of the City’s World Rivers Day Celebrations, possible!
A big thank you to Hafsa for her essential role in bringing this activity together!
Together we are achieving our common goals and creating connected, healthy and resilient communities engaged in environmental stewardship.
Collaborator
THANK YOU to Kate, Emma, Ben, & Jim from the Beecher Creek Streamkeepers for sharing their time, passion and knowledge to work alongside us for this activity!
The Beecher Creek Streamkeepers have been active for over 30 years. They work to steward this watershed by removing invasive species here and planting native trees & shrubs with the goal of continuing restoration of the area!
The best way to find out more about streamkeeping in Beecher Creek is to connect with For Our Kids Burnaby who are coordinating the Streamkeepers on their website here or by joining their Facebook group here!
In-kind Support
A big thank you to our in-kind supporters!
Lush provided their fantastic shower gels, body conditioner, and bath bombs with natural ingredients, sustainable packaging, and made in Canada! Our participants were really happy to take these gifts home!
If you’re interested in contributing in-kind or have ideas for potential partnerships, please contact Ashton Kerr. Your support makes a difference!
Why We Do This Work
The Lower Mainland Green Team is a program of the charity Green Teams of Canada.
We believe in the transformative power of hands-on environmental activities to empower individuals and strengthen communities.
Through initiatives like invasive plant removals, tree plantings, and litter clean-ups, we not only foster connections among participants but also deepen their relationship with nature. Spending time outdoors has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety while enhancing mood, focus, and overall mental and physical health.
Our activities are designed to be inclusive, welcoming individuals of all backgrounds, ages, abilities, and skill levels.
What sets us apart is we attract a wide mix of young community members who may not otherwise spend time outside, igniting their passion for nature and environmental care.
We are committed to instilling an environmental ethic that leads to lasting behavior change. We aim to create a sense of belonging and connection to place, encouraging participants to recognize their ability to make a meaningful impact.
Together, we can all make a difference. Join us as we build a brighter, greener future for everyone!
Staff Who Made This Activity Happen!
Our staff work hard to run high-quality community activities. Outreach, activity logistics, social media, reporting on impacts, partnership building and more – they do it all!
Max Muehlen, our Lower Mainland Green Team’s Program Manager, and Simryn Dhensaw, our new Lower Mainland Green Team Program Assistant, led this activity together!
Ashton Kerr, the Lower Mainland Green Team’s Partnerships Manager, supported this activity behind the scenes.